NHL '99

An early version of NHL 99 recently hit our desks, and who better to give the game a preliminary run-through than IGNPSX's resident Video Hockey junkie?

When you first boot up the game, you're greeted, as in all EA Sports titles, to a well-produced FMV introduction. In NHL 99's case, it starts out with a slow-motion march out into the ice, put to music (David Bowie's "Heroes"). Cut to graceful goals and saves thanks to real NHL footage ¿ it's kind of eerie, since hockey usually isn't this slow. But that's when the intro really takes off into its usual quick-cut, heavy guitar, energetic sequence. EA Sports really knows how to get the adrenaline flowing.

The main screen gives you the option to jump right into an exhibition game, set game options, go to training camp, or start a season. There are new coaching strategies from Marc Crawford, and you can take them to the ice in practice drills.

After jumping into the game, it's not obvious what's been done since last year. The graphics are a little sharper thanks to the higher resolution, but on the flipside the characters don't look quite as detailed. But as has been mentioned, this version is still early (especially obvious through the problematic AI and crashes) so we'll leave the final judgement for a final version.

There's a couple new elements to the gameplay, including a shot-bar that fills up during a slap-shot ¿ the longer you hold the button, the longer the shot bar, the harder the shot. And a radar screen pops up to inform you how fast that shot was clocked. For star players, an icon will appear under him when he takes control of the puck, letting you know that a special move is available.

Jim Hughson and Daryl Reaugh are back again this year to yuck it up during the periods. Their play-by-play and color commentaries have been streamlined and keep up with the action a lot better this year. There's also a few arena PA announcements between periods that give the game a very "at the rink" feel.

The PlayStation version has support for Dual Shock analog support. While I really like how the rumbles feel during a check, the analog control I'm not so sure about. It takes a lot to get used to, since this is the first console EA NHL game to break away from the eight-directional control scheme. Personally, I'll stick with the digital pad, thanks.

The TV coverage style has been refined, and now you can exit out of the cut-aways during a stoppage of play. Thanks to the new crease and goal rulings implemented for this season, if you're caught with a skate in the crease during a goal, the ref will take it to the video judge for a playback. It's very TV-like.

The fighting engine has been much improved from last year, but it's still a little glitchy in this preliminary copy. There's even commentary during each of the fistblows.

Let's see if I forgot anything. Oh, yes, there's the new expansion team, the Nashville Predators. You can also take control of one single player in an entire season. And there's also a more accurate international mode, with the wider rink and NHL players for each of the country's teams.

As it stands right now, NHL 99 isn't quite the leap above last year, but it's still got a bit to go. We'll have a full review of the game when it hits the shelves at the end of this month.